Physics: show that sound is a wave motion.

Wats_in_a_name

Describe an experiment to show that sound is a wave motion.

I have no idea! Help please. Marking scheme doesn't make it easy to work out which experiment they want.

Donerkebab

Tuning fork and spin it beside your ear. I think!

TheRepeat

I'm not sure about the marking scheme but I would probably do the bell-jar experiment that shows that sound needs a medium to travel through therefore a wave? You could also do the signal generator+loudspeakers one that shows the interference of waves as interference proves indefinately that sound is a wave .. Hope this is off some help

LilMissCiara

Strike a tuning fork and then hold a fork of the same frequency but not struck beside it. That fork will begin vibrating.

jumpguy

LilMissCiara wrote: »

Strike a tuning fork and then hold a fork of the same frequency but not struck beside it. That fork will begin vibrating.

That sounds like proving resonance, would that suffice for proving a wave?

For what I have, it's just strike a tuning fork, rotate it slowly near your ear while it's vibrating, observe the volume increase and decrease, which shows the waves undergo interference, which proves it's a wave.

The criteria for proving stuff is a wave is usually showing it can be polarised or it undergoes interference (constructive or destructive) with another wave.

Donerkebab

I is certain my way is correct!
Bang tuning fork
Rotate tuning fork beside
ear
Hear loud, soft, loud, soft

Due to constructive and
destructive interference.
Sound shows interference
so sound is a wave

JamJamJamJam

I think you get two speakers playing the same sound and you put them maybe a metre or so apart and walk in line with them and a couple of feet away, observing that there are loud spots and quiet spots. That indicates that there's interference going on, which means that sound must travel in waves.

That's how we do it anyway...

stealinhorses

That method with the speakers and the tuning fork is the exact same phenomenon, both ways are correct.

AlanBr

Obtain a tuning fork.
Strike the tuning fork off a table.
Place the tuning fork by your ear.
Rotate the tuning fork.
You will notice the sound waxing and waning.
This shows constructive and destructive interference which proves sound is a wave motion.

There you go

brownlad

they both do the same job!

spurious

They are not looking for a specific experiment, just any one that demonstrates that sound is a wave motion.

ride-the-spiral

AlanBr wrote: »

Obtain a tuning fork.
Strike the tuning fork off a table.
Place the tuning fork by your ear.
Rotate the tuning fork.
You will notice the sound waxing and waning.
This shows constructive and destructive interference which proves sound is a wave motion.

There you go

Bit of an unnecessary step I think.

jumpguy

ride-the-spiral wrote: »

Bit of an unnecessary step I think.

You'd be surprised, they marked down in physics one year for not saying "turn on the multimeter" when showing the factors affecting capacitance.